Former Tongan PM charged in passport inquiry

Amid
deepening political turmoil in the small Pacific island
kingdom of Tonga, police announced on March 2 the arrest of
former prime minister Lord Tu’ivakano in connection with a
passport fraud scandal.

It is the most high-profile arrest
by the Passport Taskforce, set up in 2015 to investigate the
alleged scams. More than a dozen people, including several
politicians, have so far pleaded guilty to various
charges.

Tu’ivakano, prime minister from 2010 to 2014,
and a sitting member of parliament appointed by the
country’s nobility, is charged with making a false
statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury,
acceptance of a bribe, and money laundering.

In a separate
case, Internal Affairs Minister ‘Akosita Lavulavu and her
husband, former cabinet minister ‘Etuate Lavulavu, were
arrested on March 4. The charges include knowingly dealing
in forged documents.

An audit of Tonga’s immigration
divisions, completed in 2013, found a Chinese couple, Sien
Lee and his wife, had been issued seven diplomatic and 15
ordinary passports since 2003. Local media reported that
King George Tupou VI told Tu’ivakano not to issue
diplomatic passports to the couple. However, the Queen
Mother ordered that they be given to her
friends.

Documents provided to Fairfax Media in New
Zealand last year also revealed Tu’ivakano had signed off
on five passports in October 2014, despite concerns about
the validity of the applicants. The Chinese nationals
claimed they were granted citizenship and issued passports
in Tonga during the 1990s.

Tonga’s police commissioner
Steve Caldwell is a New Zealander. His position is funded by
the NZ government’s aid program, which largely pays for
Tonga’s police and courts. The NZ Serious Fraud Office
played a major role in the passport investigation. Possibly
in retaliation for the arrests, Police Minister Māteni
Tapueluelu has since made a cabinet submission to dismiss
Caldwell over the alleged importation of prohibited weapons
and large amounts of ammunition by the armed forces and
police.

These episodes point to the instability of
Tonga’s autocratic and semi-feudal political system and
also highlight the extent of New Zealand imperialism’s
direct interference in the country’s affairs.

The New
Zealand ruling elite has always considered Tonga to be part
of its neo-colonial sphere, along with Samoa. The
impoverished country is a significant source of cheap labour
for the New Zealand and Australian agricultural sector. Both
imperialist countries are intervening throughout the Pacific
to assert their control and push back against China’s
increasing economic influence, which has been encouraged by
the Tongan monarchy.

Last August King Tupou dissolved
parliament on the advice of Tu’ivakano, who was then the
speaker. Tu’ivakano declared that a bill, which sought to
give cabinet direct responsibility for appointing positions
such as the police commissioner and attorney general was
“a clear attempt to erode the powers of the king and privy
council.”

A snap election in November resulted in a
decisive win for the Democratic Party of incumbent Prime
Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva, who was reinstated by vote of
the parliament.

Conflicts appear to be intensifying
between the king and the unelected nobles, who appoint nine
of the 26 MPs in parliament, on the one hand, and the
“pro-democracy” faction headed by Pōhiva, on the
other.

New Zealand-based Tongan academic Malakai
Koloamatangi told Radio NZ last year that Pōhiva’s
government “bent on reform may have pushed too hard.”
The proposals to take away the constitutional power of the
king to deny assent to bills before they become law, would
effectively take the king out of the law-making
process.

Pōhiva became prime minister following the 2014
elections, supported and promoted by Canberra and
Wellington. The regional powers remain frustrated, however,
at the slow pace of pro-business economic “reform” in
Tonga, and are alarmed at China’s strengthening ties with
the country.

Tonga took out a $US118 million low-interest
Chinese loan a decade ago, which the country has since been
hoping would be written off as aid. The Chinese government
has provided Tonga with a significant amount of aid, but has
not written off the loan, for which a strict repayment
schedule is expected to begin this year.

During his first
official visit to New Zealand in August 2016, Pōhiva came
under pressure over a Chinese passenger plane operating in
Tonga, which did not comply with New Zealand’s civil
aviation laws. After the plane was gifted to Tonga by
Beijing in 2013, New Zealand issued travel warnings and
suspended $NZ10 million of aid, causing outrage in
Beijing.

These political tensions have been building up
for more than a decade. Following public sector strikes and
anti-monarchy riots in 2006, which profoundly shook the
Tongan elite, Australia and New Zealand sent troops to the
impoverished country to protect their strategic and economic
interests and prevent Tonga’s political crisis from
spiralling out of their control.

Under pressure from
Canberra and Wellington, the Tongan government responded
with limited measures to “democratise” the electoral
system. Beginning with the 2010 election, the monarchy
agreed to increase the number of elected MPs in parliament
from 9 to 17, with 9 seats reserved for nobles. Further
constitutional changes saw the king relinquish some of his
powers. The royal family also divested itself of business
assets.

The regional powers have no concern for the social
conditions and basic democratic rights of ordinary Tongans,
but have pushed for market liberalisation. The royal family
implemented some pro-market measures in the past
decade—leading to increased social inequality, poverty and
unemployment. But as far as Australia, New Zealand, and the
International Monetary Fund are concerned, not enough has
been done to open up Tonga’s markets and resources for
exploitation.

This month, New Zealand Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern visited Tonga as part of a high-powered
Pacific tour. It followed a speech by NZ Deputy Prime
Minister Winston Peters at the Lowy Institute in Australia
on the need for New Zealand to be more assertive in the
Pacific against “external actors and interests,”
especially China.

During the visit, Peters announced the
appointment of a new high commissioner, Tiffany Babington,
who will lead the delivery of $US47 million of investment
over three years, focused on the areas of “energy,
policing, justice and education.” Key parts of the state
apparatus, in other words, will remain under New Zealand’s
control.

The geo-political rivalry destabilizing Tonga’s
fragile political order is likely to worsen. Significantly,
King Tupou and his deputy prime minister were both in
Beijing for the duration of Ardern’s visit. The king’s
week-long absence also coincided with the arrest of
Tu’ivakano.

Tupou and Chinese President Xi Jinping
proclaimed a new “strategic partnership” between the
nations. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang
said China-Tonga relations had entered a new stage of rapid
development since 2014 when Xi paid a visit to the Pacific,
pledging increased support for economic and infrastructure
development.

In response to the challenges facing Scoop and the media industry we’ve instituted an Ethical Paywall to keep the news freely available to the public.
People who use Scoop for work need to be licensed through a ScoopPro subscription under this model, they also get access to exclusive news tools.

2018 has been quite a year for Scoop. We are so thrilled to have successfully met the funding target for the first stage of the ‘Scoop 3.0’ plan raising $36,000. This means we can now proceed with the planning phase for the delivery of this bold vision for a community-owned, participatory, independent newsroom... More>>

Morrison is a masterfully ignorant practitioner who finds himself in the arms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yet still keen to press the idea that international law is being observed. More>>